Between friendship and justice: on Lincoln’s political thought

Reading Aristotle and applying his notion of philia, or political friendship, across 26 centuries sheds significant light into Abraham Lincoln’s career. It is precisely in Lincoln’s embodiment of the Aristotelian notion of friendship that we come to understand his unique greatness. Perhaps he alone of all Americans proved capable of such extraordinary feats as leading the Republican party to victory in 1860, holding the Union together through the secession crisis and four long years of bloody civil war, ending slavery without white backlash, and offering reconciliation with the incredible magnanimity expressed in the ringing phrases of the Second Inaugural address. The basis of Lincoln’s preternatural political genius proved to be his ability to comprehend all sides, a comprehension that can only come from a profound belief in the importance of friendship. Americans, Lincoln argued throughout a terrible war as he had his entire life, were not enemies but friends who shared a commitment to nature and nature’s law as expressed in the Declaration.     

Letter-writing and literary culture in Merovingian Gaul

This essay discusses Gregory of Tours' claim that literary culture was in decline in light of the considerable quantity of poetry and letters composed by Merovingian authors. Scholars have come to appreciate the importance of letter-writing for historical inquiry, yet the contrast between Gregory's assessment and aristocratic literary activity remains under-explored. This essay discusses fifth-century precedents and examines the continuity and discontinuity that occurred in the literary transition from late Antique to early-medieval Gaul. It examines the place of literary culture within Merovingian elite friendship networks, focusing on the interconnected writings of three Merovingian authors. Venantius Fortunatus was an Italian-born poet who spent most of his career writing for Merovingian elites. The royal officials Dynamius and Gogo composed letters found in a compilation of sixth-century letters called the Epistolae Austrasicae. Using the letters and poetry of these three writers, this essay argues that literary skill facilitated the creation and maintenance of connections across distance and was a necessary part of elite identity. It shows that Gregory of Tours' dramatic rhetorical claim did not reflect the true state of literature in Gaul.     

Freemasonry as a playground for civic nationalism

This article explores correspondences between the ideals of ‘civic nationalism’ (hereafter CN) and the practices of Freemasonry, a worldwide male fraternity. Freemasons practice an elitist stance of civilizing the self, translated into a collective mission of society‐building. Though not a national movement, Freemasonry shares conceptual similarities with CN and was implicated in civic‐national revolutions in the Americas and the Middle East. Drawing on ethnographic research on Israeli Freemasonry, the study explores Masonic sociability as a playgound for practicing civic friendship and negotiating the inherent tensions of CN. Freemasons straddle between particularist and universalist understandings of fraternity, virtue and charity, which carry over to questions of citizenship, patriotism and nationalism. This boundary work over collective attachments represents a pragmatic attempt, not to resolve universalist and particularist preferences, but to contain and incorporate both within exclusivist Masonic practices. Far from marking the failure of CN, Masonic sociability illustrates its political significance, envisioning the nation as a social club of chosen friends.     

Therapies for Melancholy and Inordinate Passion in the Letters of Dorothy Osborne to Sir William Temple (1652–1654)

Dorothy Osborne’s letters to Sir William Temple, written during the period of the secret, protracted courtship between the pair, demonstrate a persistent interest in melancholy and in the regulation of inordinate passion. Osborne draws on a variety of discourses of melancholy to construct herself and Temple as melancholy lovers. She also uses her letters to express and regulate her passions associated with the uncertainty of the couple’s future. This essay argues that Osborne privileges literary therapies for inordinate passion, employing affective, therapeutic processes of reading and writing within the letters themselves.     

论“世界客属恳亲大会”与中国客家侨乡

世界客属恳亲大会在中国内地的五次召开,加强了海内外客家人对族群身份的认同和文化寻根;促进了客家文化和“客家学”学科的发展。大会活动所带动的资金的运作,并由此形成的中国客家侨乡与海外华商的经济网络,对于扩大举办地的对外开放,加速举办地经济文化的发展具有重要的历史和现实意义。     

中共主要领导人早期中日友好思想述论——以李大钊、陈独秀、毛泽东和周恩来为中心

中共主要领导人李大钊、陈独秀、毛泽东和周恩来等,早年在对日本民族和人民观察与思考的基础上,赞赏日本民族是一个伟大的民族,并将日本人民和日本军国主义政府区分开来,积极主张中日两国人民之间的真正友好,从而形成了中国共产党的早期中日友好思想。     

Housekeeper,correspondent and confidante: the under-told story of Mrs Hayes of Charlecote Park, 1744–73

All too often, servants are accorded limited space in country house studies: rarely allowed to venture beyond the kitchen and service rooms, either in academic studies or interpretations for visitors. They are defined by their work not their lives and are seen as serving the physical rather than social or emotional needs of the owner. This paper challenges this viewpoint by exploring the relationship between George Lucy, owner of Charlecote Park in Warwickshire and his housekeeper, Mrs Phillipa Hayes. Drawing on their mutual correspondence, on other letters to and from Mrs Hayes, and on her Household Book, I construct a richer and more nuanced picture of the multiple roles that could be played by a senior servant. She was a housekeeper, but also a correspondent, confidante and hostess, who offered comfort and pleasure to her employer as well as sound economic and social management of his household. Although in some ways unusual, this case study illustrates the importance of placing senior servants more centrally when exploring the country house.     

“中英友好奖学金计划”与新时期留学教育的发展

改革开放初期,爱国华人包玉刚向中英两国政府提出了中英友好奖学金计划,该计划得到了中英两国领导人的认可,并一同实施该计划。中英友好奖学金计划历经十年,为中国培养了大批的优秀人才,推动了中国高等教育事业及社会经济的发展;创造了一个全新的留学教育模式,为以后留英教育提供了经验,加强了与华人华侨的联系,发展了中英关系。三边互动的中英友好奖学金计划教育交流模式,有利于香港政权的平稳交接以及回归后的稳步发展,也有力地推动了中英两国关系全面发展。这种三边互动是改革开放初期中国政府勇于探索、积极创新的产物,它不仅表明了中国政府能够采用多种形式发展留英教育事业,同时也证明了中国政府能够团结一切可以团结的力量进行社会主义现代化建设。     

伊壁鸠鲁的快乐哲学

本文从快乐的定义、获得快乐的具体方法等角度探讨了古希腊哲学家伊壁鸠鲁的快乐哲学,并对他的哲学从正反两个方面给予了评价。